The ceremony “Lives lost at the worksites of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro: Tribute to Workers” will be hosted on the 28th of July at 11am at the courtyard of Fiocruz, in Manguinhos-RJ. In just three years 11 workers lost their lives as a result of accidents at the worksites of the 2016 Summer Olympics. To honour these workers, the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) will hold a ceremony on the 28th of July. “Every death is a great failure and when 11 people have died you can tell something is very wrong. It is a result of bad planning, bad safety conditions and insane work pressure. No worker should have to die just because the organizers are running behind the schedule,” said Ambet Yuson, General Secretary of the BWI. Since last year the BWI has been raising the alarm on the unsafe and dangerous working conditions in the final stretch of the works for the Summer Olympic Games. According to research of FUNDACENTRO there was an increase in the number of accidents as the deadline for the construction grew closer. “There is a lack of responsibility for workers’ lives. The objective of the ceremony is to push the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to commit to create tools to guarantee safer working conditions for the workers in the preparations of the Olympic Games,” states the BWI Representative for Latin America and Caribbean Region, Nilton Freitas. To avoid future accidents, the BWI is proposing an Occupational Health and Safety Protocol on the 2016 Olympics worksites establishing a series of guidelines for actions to ensure safe working conditions. The ceremony will be organized by the BWI in partnership with the Ministry of Labour and Employment through the Center of Workers’ Health and Human Ecology Studies (Cesteh/ENSP - Fiocruz), the Trade Union of Science, Technology, Production and Innovation in Public Health Employees (Asfoc-SN), the Intermunicipal Trade Union of Workers in the Construction of Rio de Janeiro (SITRAICP) and the Workers Union of Building Industries of Rio de Janeiro (SINTRACONST-RIO). PROGRAM: The ceremony will start at 11 am and around 12 noon a tree will be planted by the family and friends in honour of the 11 workers who were victims of fatal accidents. During the closing ceremony, at 12:30 pm, a letter will be handed to the press about the deaths at construction worksites in the preparation of mega-sporting events. Ceremony: Lives lost in the worksites of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro: Tribute to Workers Date and Time: July 28, 2016 at 11:00 am Place: Centro de Estudos da Saúde do Trabalhador e Ecologia Humana (Cesteh/ENSP) Address: Rua Leopoldo Bulhões, n. 1.480, Manguinhos – Rio de Janeiro. For more Information: Please contact Marina Gurgel, Project Coordinator, BWI Latina America and Caribbean RegionPhone: +55 11 991060493